SAT-ITALY 13.02.1998

from: owner-sat-italy@tags1.dn.net
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:00:10 +0100
SAT-ITALY - EDITION 7/98 - February 13th 1998 -
Italian Satellite and Media news edited by Branislav Pekic


MEDIASET CHANNEL IN RUMANIA
It seems that during the recent visit of Italian media mogul and politician
Silvio Berlusconi to Bucharest, politics was not the only subject he
discussed with his Rumanian colleagues. According to the local press,
Berlusconi (who owns the Mediaset, the biggest private TV network in Italy)
expressed interest in investing in the local media. He expressed major
interest over possible investments in launching a third national TV
channel. However, this is not the first time Berlusconi has come up with
this idea, some time ago former Rumanian president Iliescu did not give his
consent for a similar project.  
- Stando a quanto pubblicano i quotidiani di Bucarest, dove il leader di
Forza Italia Silvio Berlusconi ha recentemente concluso una visita, i
contatti con le autorità del Paese sarebbero serviti anche ad approfondire
lo studio di un possibile ingresso nel settore televisivo rumeno. Secondo
le indiscrezioni, gli investimenti, si indirizzerebbero verso il terzo
canale tv. 


PROBLEMS BESEIGE NEW RAI MANAGEMENT
One of the main tasks of the new administrative council of RAI and new
Director General Pierluigi Celli will be to resolve major problems, which
are facing the Italian state broadcaster. They include: a drastic fall in
audience figures (especially for the leading channel RAI Uno), an empty
program archive as well as the need to finally make a decision regarding
the question of a single Italian digital platform.
RAI's subsidiary in charge of advertising, Sipra, has reported net revenues
of 1,700 million DM during 1997 and the figures for the first months of
this year are also encouraging. However, it seems that there will be
problems this year regarding potential advertisers. Sipra increased the
advertising rates for this year based on good audience results obtained
last season. Consequently, advertisers paid more and now, especially on the
flagship channel RAI Uno, are faced with lower audience figures than last
year. Luckily for RAI, this year will be especially rich in sports events
(such as the World football cup in France) which should be enough to
guarantee more than satisfactory viewership.
A more serious problem at least in the near future concerns RAI's program
archive, which is practically empty of new programs. The new managers are
fully aware of the problem and have recently held a top level meeting with
Disney Europe. However, RAI's principal rival Mediaset is in a much better
position, having recently signed an important deal with Cecchi Gori Group
(CGC) which gives it TV rights for many movies on general release this
season as well as access to more than 200 movie titles held by CGC. The
Florence based TV/movie production company has several long-term output
deals with major Hollywood studios, except Warner and Disney. RAI has
responded by increasing investments in the production of fiction
programming (TV series, mini-series and movies).
Finally the never ending saga concerning the talks going on between Canal
Plus, RAI, Mediaset, Cecchi Gori Group and Telecom Italia on forming a
single Italian digital platform. All sides have recognized that there are
many sticking points to be resolved, but it seems the breaking up point has
not yet been reached. During the last year, RAI launched its first three
thematic satellite channels, which have enabled the company to reach
important international partnerships. In any case, if the digital talks
fail, RAI together with Telecom Italia will launch a rival digital platform
to that of Telepiu. Most probably the second platform would also carry
premium channels (with hit movies and Italian league football) but this
would require additional investments. Interestingly enough, Stream (the
cable subsidiary of Telecom Italia) is about to sign a long-term
programming deal with MCA/Universal in name of NewCo; a production company
owned 80% by RAI and 20% by Telecom Italia.
- Il nuovo vertice della Rai si trova davanti a un'azienda risanata ma in
crisi d'identità. Su tre aree, in particolare, il consiglio e il direttore
generale Pierluigi Celli devono impegnarsi a fondo: difficoltà di ascolto
di Rai1, magazzino programmi e tecnologie, a partire dalla televisione
digitale.
La concessionaria della Rai Pubblicità, Sipra ha attuato quest'anno un
forte incremento delle tariffe basato sui buoni risultati di ascolto della
scorsa stagione. Gli utenti hanno pagato di più e adesso, in particolare su
Rai1, si ritrovano con meno ascolti dello scorso anno. La domanda di spazi
è maggiore dell'offerta e quindi questo dovrebbe permettere alla Sipra di
contenere lo scontento. Sulla questione del magazzino programmi che è ormai
vuoto, il nuovo vertice ne è pienamente cosciente, tanto da aver già
partecipato a un incontro con la Disney Europe. Mediaset è in netto
vantaggio, dopo aver chiuso l'accordo con il gruppo Cecchi Gori, dal quale
ha acquistato i diritti dei film in uscita in questa stagione e nelle
prossime due, più 200 titoli del magazzino del produttore toscano. La Rai
ha aumentato l'impegno nella produzione diretta di fiction e anche di film. 
La trattativa per arrivare a un accordo per una piattaforma comune tra
Canal Plus, Mediaset, Rai, Telecom Italia e gruppo Cecchi Gori conosce più
di una difficoltà, ma non si è arrivati alla rottura. In caso di fallimento
della trattativa, la Rai dovrebbe lanciare con Telecom Italia una
piattaforma concorrente a quella di Telepiù. E dovrà realizzare canali
premium, acquistando diritti per il passaggio in pay tv dei film di
Hollywood e delle partite di calcio di Serie A. 


RAI LAUNCHES PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE
The Italian public broadcaster launched on February 9th a new radio service
called GR Parlamento, which will be dedicated to live transmissions from
the Italian Parliament. The new radio station broadcasts 24 hours a day,
and besides carrying live feeds from the Parliamentary proceedings also
airs live coverage from the European Parliament in Strasbourg as well as
local council meetings throughout Italy. The daily program schedule starts
with an extended news bulletin from 07:00 to 08:00 hours, followed by live
parliamentary coverage from 09:30 hours. The director of the new service is
Paolo Ruffini and currently there are 12 people preparing the services. The
coverage of GR Parlamento currently reaches 35% of the whole Italian
population, in two weeks time this figure is expected to reach 45% and by
the end of the year 70% of all Italians will be able to receive the
service. Additionally, GR Parlamento is also available in digital mode via
satellite, as part of RAI's bouquet on the HOT BIRD satellites (frequency
11,804 GHz/Ver, Symbol rate 27500 Ks/sec, FEC 2/3).
- E' partita il 9 febbraio la rete radiofonica RAI dedicata ai lavori
parlamentari. GR Parlamento trasmette 24 ore su 24 i lavori parlamentari in
diretta, i lavori di Strasburgo e le sedute di consigli regionali e
comunali. Il direttore della nuova rete è Paolo Ruffini. Il palinsesto
prevede il radiogiornale alle 7 e alle 8 e le dirette parlamentari dalle
09:30. Nelle prime due settimane, GR Parlamento potrà raggiungere solo il
35% degli italiani, il 45% entro un mese e il 75% per fine anno. Il segnale
è trasmesso anche via satellite, nel bouquet digitale della RAI.


IRIDIUM REACHES DEAL WITH TELESPAZIO 
According to the Italian trade magazine "Satellite", Nuova Telespazio, the
Italian company in charge of uplinking and downlinking satellite services,
will be in charge of monitoring the Iridium satellites. These satellites
which will be located in lower Earth orbit will offer various
communications services among them mobile telephony. Nuova Telespazio will
monitor daily the satellite performance from its control center located at
Corcolle near Rome. Additionally, the Italian company will be in charge of
managing the terrestrial gateway (interface between the satellite links and
the normal telephone lines on Earth). More information about the activities
of Nuova Telespazio can be found on the following Web site:
http://www.telespazio.it
- Questa notizia viene della rivista italiana "Satellite". Sarà l'italiana
Nuova Telespazio a garantire ad Iridium, la costellazione di satelliti in
orbita bassa della Motorola destinata ad offrire servizi di telefonia
satellitare in tutto il mondo, il controllo del segmento spaziale:
attraverso il Centro di Controllo di Corcolle (Roma), Telespazio effettuerà
quotidianamente il controllo del movimento dei satelliti, la gestione delle
risorse di sistema e le analisi di dinamica del volo. 


SAT2000 ON AIR
As announced, the Italian Catholic satellite TV channel Sat 2000 went on
air on Monday, February 9th. The channel is backed by the Italian Bishops
Conference (CEI) and annual investments in the channel are expected to
reach 20 million DM. Initially the channel will broadcast six and a half
hours of original programming daily which will be repeated throughout the
14 hour daily broadcast period (from 10:00 till 00:30 hours). However, the
goal is to soon reach eight hours of original programming. Since there are
only around 200,000 Italian households equipped to receive the digital
signal of Sat 2000, some of the programs will be retransmitted by around
100 local TV stations of Catholic inspiration. The Italian bishops also
launched their own satellite radio station, Blu Sat 2000 which has been
broadcasting since January 26th on the digital audio subcarriers of the TV
service. Currently more than 200 Catholic radio station in Italy are
carrying part of the stations programs.
- Alle ore 18:30 del 9 febbraio è ufficialmente decollata Sat 2000, la
televisione satellitare cattolica. Per il momento soltanto circa 200,000
mila utenti hanno la parabola e il ricevitore digitale necessari per
ricevere il nuovo canale. Circa 100 TV locali cattoliche trasmetterano
buona parte dei programmi anche agli spettatori senza impianto satellitare.
Da lunedi 26 gennaio ha iniziato le trasmissioni anche Blu Sat 2000,
emittente radiofonica "gemella" della TV che, oltre che ad essere
disponibile sullo stesso transponder di Sat 2000, viene ritrasmessa da 200
radio catttoliche sparse sul territorio nazionale.


200 TV FREQUENCIES UP FOR GRABS
The Italian Ministry for posts and telecommunications has confirmed that it
will provisionally assign "as soon as possible" the 200 or so TV
frequencies vacated as of January 1st this year, by Tele + 3 which switched
to satellite-only broadcasts. The undersecretaries Lauria and Vita
guaranteed that the frequency allocations will be "transparent and in full
accordance with the law". The major beneficiaries will be the TMC and TMC2
TV channels which are owned by the Florence based media magnate Vittorio
Cecchi Gori as well as Rete A (retransmits MTV's signal) and several local
TV stations. 
The two TMC channels will receive 200 frequencies, but it seems this is not
enough for the company's president Biagio Agnes who pointed out that TMC's
principal rival Mediaset has in total 1650 frequencies, compared to TMC's
600. Anyhow, the decision by the Ministry will finally resolve the chaotic
situation created after the closure of Tele +3, when the frequencies freed
up were "abusively" taken up by various local TV broadcasters.
- Il Ministero delle Comunicazioni ha annunciato che al più presto
assegnerà le circa 200 frequenze TV liberatesi dalla fine dell 1997, a
partire da quelle di Tele +3 passata sul satellite. I sottosegretari Lauria
e Vita hanno garantito che l'assegnazione sarà "trasparente e a norma di
legge", in favore non solo di TMC, ma anche di Rete A e alcune emittenti
locali. Le frequenze assegnate a TMC sarebbero circa 200, ma probabilmente
non basteranno ad TMC che chiede un migliaio. Dalla chiusura di Tele +3, le
frequenze lasciate libere dall'emittente erano occupati "abusivamente" da
varie TV locali.


PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS ON RAI TV CHANNELS FOR WEEK FEBRUARY 15-21
(All times Central European)
MOVIES
15.02
RAI UNO, 20:45h - La Bibbia: Davide (Italy-1996), starring: Jonathan Pryce,
Leonard Nimoy
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Breakaway (USA-1996), starring: Richard Beatty, Brian
Carlton
RAI DUE, 00:05h - Mario, Maria e Mario (Italy-1993), starring: Giulio
Scarpati, Valeria Cavalli
16.02
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Cutthroat island (USA-1995), starring: Geena Davis,
Matthew Modine
17.02
RAI UNO, 20:50h - Come due coccodrilli (Italy-1993), starring: Fabrizio
Bentivoglio, Giancarlo Giannini
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Profile for murder (USA-1996), starring: Lance Henriksen,
Joan Severance
18.02
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Child's wish (USA-1997), starring: John Ritter, Tess Harper
RAI DUE, 23:00h - Land and glory (U.Kingdom/Spain-1995), starring: Ian Hart
19.02
RAI TRE, 20:30h - Ho vinto la Lotteria di Capodanno (Italy-1989), starring:
Paolo Villaggio, Antonio Allocca
20.02
RAI DUE, 00:30h - Il cacciatore solitario (Germany-1972), starring: Raymond
Armastorf, Ron Ely
21.02
RAI DUE, 20:50h - Behind every good man (USA-1996), starring: Kim Delaney
RAI UNO, 00:35h - Rasoi (Italy-1994), starring: Toni Servillo, Iaia Forte

Note:	All movies transmitted in the prime time slot are subtitled on RAI's
teletext pages 777 (Italian) and 778 (English)

SPORT 
15.02
RAI TRE, 06:55h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Skating, Bob, Ice Hockey:
Italy-Czech Republic, Ice skating
RAI TRE, 17:20h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) 
RAI DUE, 19:00h - Basketball: Italian league
RAI TRE, 05:40h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Ice Hockey: Canada-USA
and Finland-Italy
16.02
RAI DUE, 06:55h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Skating, Hockey on ice:
Czech Republic-Russian and Sweden-Italy, Ice skating
RAI TRE, 01:25h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Alpine skiing, Biathlon,
Skating
17.02
RAI TRE, 08:30h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Skating, Hockey on ice
RAI TRE, 01:25h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Alpine skiing, Freestyle
18.02
RAI DUE, 06:40h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Hockey on ice:
quaterfinals, Ice skating
RAI UNO, 20:40h - Football: Italian Cup, Milan-Parma
RAI TRE, 01:25h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Nordic skiing, Alpine
skiing, Biathlon
19.02
RAI DUE, 06:55h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Skating
RAI TRE, 00:55h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Alpine skiing
20.02
RAI DUE, 06:40h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Hockey on ice
(semifinals), Ice skating, Bob
RAI TRE, 15:50h - Volleyball (women): Italian league, Despar Perugia-Preca
Cislago
RAI TRE, 01:25h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Skiing, Biathlon
21.02
RAI TRE, 06:55h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Ice skating, Bob
RAI TRE, 17:30h - Volleyball: Italian league, Jeans Hatu Bologna-Gabeca Fad
Montichiari
RAI TRE, 00:55h - Winter Olympic Games (Nagano) - Skiing, Hockey on ice
(final)


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